An Outstanding System for an Outstanding Venue.

Designed by Amadeus and Jean Nouvel, Philharmonia is a very high definition monitoring system combining innovation and technology, with timeless beauty and a pristine sonic character, initially created specifically for the Philharmonie de Paris recording and mastering studios, which were built to capture performances by the most prestigious symphonic orchestras. The speakers are now available for any use in the home or studio.

The rock-like building of the Philharmonie de Paris offers innovative shapes to outside visitors. The spiraling polished steel structures surrounding the concert hall contrasts with its angled, matt aluminum envelope. At the heart of this jewel box is a 2400-seat symphonic hall with outstanding design, ergonomics and acoustics.

Designed by Jean Nouvel.

Jean Nouvel, the creator of the Philharmonie de Paris, is undeniably the most important and distinctive of all French contemporary architects. The monolith-like Philharmonia displays a curved structure comprised of 547 wood veneers, accurately machined, aligned and glued, yielding a look that’s both simple and complex, timeless and beyond previous style. Philharmonia exhibits a certain idea of perfection through simplicity. It stands for elementary, essential and unique.

His works have gained worldwide recognition through numerous prestigious French and International prizes and awards. In 1989, he was the recipient of Aga Khan Award for the Institute of the Arab World in Paris, for its role as “a successful bridge between French and Arab cultures.” In 2000, Jean Nouvel received the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale. In 2001, he received three of the highest international awards: the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Praemium Imperiale of the Japan Art Association and the Borromini Prize for the Culture and Conference Center in Lucerne.

He was appointed Honorary Doctor of the Royal College of Art in London in 2002. Three years later, he received the annual prize of the Wolf Foundation in Israel “for providing a new model of contextualism and redefining the dialectic between the two salient characteristics of contemporary architecture: concreteness and ephemerality.” The next year, the Agbar Tower in Barcelona was awarded the International Highrise Award 2006 in Frankfurt, “as it makes an outstanding contribution to the current debate on high-rises.” Jean Nouvel was also the recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2008. In France, he received numerous prizes including the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture, two Equerres d’Argent and the National Grand Prize for Architecture.

Engineered by Amadeus.

For over twenty years, Amadeus has designed, built and marketed a wide range of electro-acoustical playback systems and very high-end signal processing equipment, bringing together high technology, style and emotion. Amadeus was founded in 1992 with the reunion between designer Bernard Byk and scientist Michel Deluc, and today Amadeus has become a reference brand for sound professionals.

Amadeus enjoys close ties with major musical and scientific institutions, both national and international. Its list of long-standing French clients includes IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre National de Marseille, Opéra de Lyon, Philharmonie de Paris, Cité de la Musique, la Gaîté Lyrique, among others.

From the onset, Amadeus has housed a scientific research and conceptualization department, led by Michel Deluc, dedicated to, among other things, the design of custom-made acoustical and electro-acoustical solutions for a wide range of clients, including theaters, opera houses, studios, musicians, producers, composers, multidisciplinary artists, research centers, and more…

When Design Influences Technology.

Philharmonia features a curved structure that is both simple and complex, consisting of 547 wood veneers accurately machined and assembled, offering a distinctive look and volume. It features a unique hybrid laminar port using progressive termination. Machined into the wood material along the full height of the speaker system, the very low velocity port yields optimal linearity for the lowest distortion possible.

A Highly Complex Internal Structure.

The distinctive construction technique of Philharmonia helps neutralize standing waves affecting sonic clarity and low-frequency definition, through an extremely complex internal structure using a combination of interlocking panels arranged in two perpendicular planes, each hosting several tuned notch resonators.

This allows a dramatic decrease in sound coloration through a crossed structure of longitudinal and transverse reinforcements. This proprietary technique is in part inspired by Amadeus-designed professional Mains monitoring systems used in large recording studios, the ‘crossed structure’ itself drawing on aircraft manufacturing processes, particularly wing design.

Outstanding Spatial Dispersion Control.

Philharmonia houses a high-frequency driver features very low dielectric losses and high thermal conductivity, loaded behind a fast exponential waveguide machined in wood, which yields exceptional control over spatial dispersion.

Integrated, Extreme Power!

Philharmonia is bi-amplified using two dedicated very high resonance digital custom-built amplifiers, featuring an outstanding efficiency, each amp delivering 700 Watts under 8 ohms. These proprietary PPM-PWM fixed frequency class-D amplifiers are equipped with a high efficiency switched mode power supply.

Powerful Processing at the Core of Every System.

Each speaker channel is under control by a powerful, 64-bit digital processing unit capable of a 118 dB dynamic range. Each of these on-board DSP units include a module dedicated to managing core system parameters including system EQ, time alignment between sections, limiting, transducer thermal protection. This level of control makes Philharmonia fully protected and able to operate at the full extent of its abilities.

Analog? Digital? It’s up to you!

Philharmonia features a line-level analog input through a professional-grade XLR connector, letting you use the DAC unit of your choice.

Given that digital-to-analog conversion should happen at the latest possible stage in an electro-acoustical monitoring system, Philharmonia also integrates two digital inputs/outputs conforming to the AES3 digital audio data transfer standard. These are coupled with a high resolution 24-bit/96kHz converter placed as close as possible to the electronic amplifiers, thus working in perfect combination with them.

User-Configurable to Suit your Environment.

Philharmonia features an RJ-45 network input allowing remote control of its processor for an optimal adjustment via dedicated software to the acoustical properties of the listening space. The software is an App that runs on Macintosh, Apple iPad and Windows computers.

For close to twenty-five years, we have been providing support to opera houses, theaters, venues and studios during the implementation stage of the playback systems we design and supply.

The acoustical complexity of private, non-optimized spaces is often inversely proportional to their size.
The powerful DSP integrated in every Philharmonia has the ability to compensate for any frequency, tonal, timbral or impulse-related problem induced by the architectural constraints of the space where they are set.
Acoustical engineers trained in electro-acoustical monitoring systems calibration, and authorized and selected by Amadeus, are the ideal solution for tuning of a Philharmonia system.

When Distinctiveness rhymes with Legitimacy.

Philharmonia’s legitimacy stems from the prestigious legacy gained by Amadeus in the professional audio world over the last 25 years. Our users list includes the greatest sound engineers, mixers and producers in France and throughout the world.

Unmatched Dual Expertise.

Having acoustics and electro-acoustics match up is a basic premise of our design philosophy when designing and outfitting spaces dedicated to creation, mixing, mastering, postproduction or dubbing, or just high-level listening, among other tasks. Our transversal approach and dual expertise have made us able to create perfectly imagined spaces where the acoustical response has been perfected, ready to house the monitoring systems we design in parallel.

We have many successes in the field of acoustical and/or electro-acoustical custom design.

Philharmonia is a brilliant and subtle mix of uncompromising research in the design and combination of components, combined with a perfect mastery of sound and style, orchestrated by passionate people at the forefront of design and innovation

Pierre Le Cardinal (Mixing & Recording Engineer, La Gaîté-Lyrique)

Each time Amadeus engineers design a monitoring speaker, one can gently feel that research is mainly oriented to get a musical result. I praise the ‘transparent sound’ philosophy inherent to Amadeus systems, and the refusal to ‘standardize’ sound signature or color. I enjoy as well the expertise of the backing performed by Amadeus teams. This implication is typical of your motto: to reach the best possible adaptation of the audio system to its environment, and to fine-tune it to get the best results.

Philharmonia is a brilliant and subtle mix of uncompromising research in the design and combination of components, combined with a perfect mastery of sound and style, orchestrated by passionate people at the forefront of design and innovation

Pierre Le Cardinal (Mixing & Recording Engineer, La Gaîté-Lyrique)

Each time Amadeus engineers design a monitoring speaker, one can gently feel that research is mainly oriented to get a musical result. I praise the ‘transparent sound’ philosophy inherent to Amadeus systems, and the refusal to ‘standardize’ sound signature or color. I enjoy as well the expertise of the backing performed by Amadeus teams. This implication is typical of your motto: to reach the best possible adaptation of the audio system to its environment, and to fine-tune it to get the best results.

Bruno Morain (Mixing & Recording Engineer, Philharmonie de Paris)

Make your Philharmonia Unique.

Precious woods, metals, stains, lacquers, refined and custom leathers on the exterior finish can all make a Philharmonia unique. We can satisfy our customers specific demands in close relation with the staff at Jean Nouvel Design. This makes us able to create the most exclusive speaker systems.

The scope of the possible arrangements available at the ordering stage to create a system matching your aesthetic expectations is infinite.

Listen to the Philharmonia!

Experiencing the Philharmonia, perceiving their transparency, smoothness, and accuracy – and discovering or rediscovering musical masterpieces – is a unique, sensory and artistic experience. To an experience that’s hard to describe – it's just something you have to experience for yourself!